When you think of macaws or parrots, the word "copycat" may come to mind. These charismatic birds have long been celebrated for their vocal mimicry skills, imitating human speech and other sounds with impressive accuracy.



An international team of researchers has recently uncovered an entirely new level to this mimicry. This time, it's about movement, not voice.



The study was led by Dr. Esha Haldar from the Max Planck Institute for Biological Intelligence in collaboration with the Loro Parque Fundación.



The blue-throated macaw, a critically endangered species, turns out to be just as adept at copying physical actions as it is sounds. 



The scientists discovered this after testing the macaws' ability to imitate intransitive actions - movements that do not involve a physical object or specific outcome. Until now, this type of mimicry was thought to be unique to humans.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-imitation-and-cultural-evolution">Imitation and cultural evolution</h2>



Imitation of intransitive actions - those without specific goals - has long been a cornerstone of human cultural evolution.



From transmitting technical skills to adopting cultural conventions, humans excel at copying gestures with remarkable fidelity. This promotes social bonding and prosocial behavior.



Previous studies have shown automatic imitation in animals like dogs and budgerigars, but only in object-directed actions. 



The macaw study marks the first evidence of automatic imitation of intransitive actions in <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/birds-have-regional-accents-just-like-humans/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">non-human species</a>, widening the lens on how imitation shapes social and cultural dynamics.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-imitation-skills-of-macaws">Imitation skills of macaws </h2>



The researchers trained macaws to perform two specific actions - “lift leg” and “spread wings” - by responding to hand signals. After training, the birds were divided into two groups to test their ability to mimic or not mimic actions.



In the "compatible" group, macaws were rewarded when they copied the action of another macaw, such as lifting their leg when the demonstrator did so.



Macaws in the "incompatible" group were rewarded only when they performed the opposite action, such as spreading their wings when the demonstrator lifted its leg.



The results revealed a natural tendency for macaws to imitate others. Birds in the incompatible group struggled significantly to suppress their urge to mimic. They made more mistakes and took longer to respond compared to the compatible group, highlighting their instinct for automatic imitation.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-automatic-imitation-and-mirror-neurons">Automatic imitation and mirror neurons </h2>



“The findings are remarkable because they show, for the first time, a non-human animal involuntary imitation of intransitive actions,” said Dr. Haldar.



In humans, automatic imitation is linked to&nbsp;mirror neurons, which are special brain cells that activate when a person observes an action and also when they perform the same action themselves. 



These neurons help humans understand and replicate behaviors, playing a key role in learning and social interactions.



Although this study does not directly prove that parrots, like macaws, have mirror neurons, their behavior strongly hints at it. The macaws' ability to mimic movements without conscious effort suggests that similar neural mechanisms might be at work, supporting their advanced imitation skills.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-macaw-imitation-and-conservation-efforts">Macaw imitation and conservation efforts</h2>



“These highly social animals live in dynamic groups. Automatic imitation may enhance integration into new groups and foster social cohesion. It could underpin the cultural transmission of group-specific behaviors,” noted Dr. Auguste von Bayern from <a href="https://www.bi.mpg.de/en" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Max Planck Institute for Biological Intelligence</a>.



Such mimicry likely evolved independently in distantly related species, driven by similar <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/infanticide-or-adoption-why-parrots-kill-each-others-chicks/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">social and environmental needs</a>.



The blue-throated macaw’s ability to imitate has promising implications for <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/humans-have-relocated-caribbean-parrots-for-thousands-of-years/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">conservation</a>.



With fewer than 350 individuals remaining in the wild, reintroduction projects could benefit from this trait. Captive-bred macaws might learn natural behaviors from wild conspecifics, accelerating adaptation to their natural environment.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-a-better-understanding-of-macaws">A better understanding of macaws</h2>



Loro Parque Fundación’s long-standing conservation efforts include raising 465 macaws in captivity and investing over $2 million in their protection. 



These findings add a new dimension to the foundation’s mission, paving the way for innovative strategies to ensure the survival of these stunning parrots.



This study highlights the macaws' cognitive brilliance and its potential role in shaping social and cultural behaviors. 



From conservation to <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/elusive-bird-night-parrot-pezoporus-occidentalis-thought-to-be-long-extinct-rediscovered/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">evolutionary biology</a>, the findings open new doors to understanding the intricate lives of parrots and their remarkable similarities to humans.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.cell.com/iscience/fulltext/S2589-0042(24)02741-X" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">iScience</a>.



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Blue-throated macaws have human-like imitation skills

When you think of macaws or parrots, the word "copycat" may come to mind. These charismatic birds have long been celebrated for their vocal mimicry skills, imitating human speech and other sounds with impressive accuracy. An international team of researchers has recently uncovered an entirely new level to this mimicry. This time, it's about movement, not voice. The study was led by Dr. Esha Haldar from the Max Planck Institute for Biological Intelligence in collaboration with the Loro Parque Fundación. The blue-throated macaw, a critically endangered species,...

Tropical fish off the coast of North Carolina are using shipwrecks as reefs, preferring artificial structures to natural rocky reefs. 

Many species like tropical fish <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/tarantulas-migrating-new-areas/">are on the move</a> in search of more hospitable habitats due to warming temperatures linked to climate change. 

Shipwrecks and other sunken objects work as artificial reefs that fish are using as stepping stones in their northward migration as they travel beyond their typical geographic range. 

Researchers from <a href="https://www.duke.edu/">Duke University</a> suggest that artificial reefs like shipwrecks will house more and more tropical fish in the future as climate trends continue to warm tropical marine habitats. 

In a new study published in the journal Nature Communications Biology, the Duke researchers show that tropical fish populations have increased off the coast of North Carolina in recent years and these fish flock to artificial reefs rather than natural ones. 

“Globally, there is broad evidence that many tropical fish species are shifting their ranges poleward and to deeper waters in response to changing ocean conditions, and what we see on these reefs seems to fit that pattern,” said Avery B. Paxton, the lead author of the study.

Subtropical fish exhibit a clear preference for artificial reefs as the researchers found and this could be because shipwrecks and human-made structures offer more hiding places to evade prey or attract abundant sources of zooplankton and food. 

A team of scuba-divers conducted population and species counts at 30 artificial and natural reefs off the coast of North Carolina between 2013 and 2015.

The counts were done four times a year to track population changes and see if seasonal changes impacted population numbers. 

Not only were there more tropical and subtropical fish near deep artificial reefs, but the researchers also recorded a greater diversity in fish species. 

Blue chromis, purple reef fish, bluehead wrasse, vermilion snapper, greater amberjack and bar jack were commonly spotted on the artificial reefs, whereas temperate fish species preferred the natural rocky reefs. 

“We didn’t see these patterns on artificial reefs at shallow or intermediate depths, we only saw them on deep reefs, located between 80 to 115 feet below the surface, where water temperatures often experience less seasonal change,” said Paxton. 

Shipwrecks and sunken structures which are common in oceans worldwide may soon become hotspots for migrating tropical and subtropical fish, according to the study. 

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer 

Paid for by <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a>

Image Credit: John McCord, Coastal Studies Institute

Shipwrecks provide artificial reefs for tropical fish migrating northward

Tropical fish off the coast of North Carolina are using...

Lions may be four-hundred-pound top predators, but a new study from the <a href="https://www.fieldmuseum.org/">Field Museum</a> is describing how porcupines can often take them down. The researchers explored interactions between <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/california-mountain-lions-trouble/">lions</a> and their unlikely rivals over hundreds of years.

“By examining records of lions that have been injured by porcupines, we were able to develop a better picture of the conditions that lead lions to try to hunt porcupines and what happens to the lions who get stuck,” said study lead author Julian Kerbis Peterhans.

“It's David and Goliath on the African savanna. The powerful king of the savanna tries to eat a juicy, fat porcupine, but he gets hurt by the quills,” added Professor Gastone Celesia. “Even though lions are at the top of the food chain, they get injured if they don't watch what they're doing.”

African porcupines are large rodents that weigh about forty pounds. While they are often sought out for their meat, their backs are covered in sharp quills made of keratin. These long quills can detach and get stuck in the flesh of predators.

[caption id="attachment_1872315" align="aligncenter" width="650"]<a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/quill.jpeg"><img class="wp-image-1872315" src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/quill.jpeg" alt="" width="650" height="488" /></a> A porcupine quill removed from the skull of a lion, broken into two pieces. Image © Field Museum[/caption]

Although there are stories and records of lions getting injured by porcupines going back hundreds of years, this study is the first to compile all the records of those injuries. To get a better understanding of the unusual dynamic between the two species, the team sought out evidence of lion-porcupine interactions in scientific literature and even on YouTube.

“I think that digging deeply into the historic literature, especially very early sources, has largely fallen out of fashion in the modern era,” said study co-author Tom Gnoske. “There are treasures still to be found, but going back in the written record four centuries, well, that takes some patience and time.”

Overall, the team found evidence of about fifty lions that had been injured or killed by porcupines, and several patterns emerged. Lions that lived on harsher, drier terrain tended to rely on porcupines for food, and young lions were more likely to try to hunt porcupines than older lions. 

“There was a tendency for males to be more often wounded or killed by porcupines - sort of a 'young foolish male syndrome,’” said Peterhans. 

“We know from forty-plus years of continuous behavioral research on lions since the 1960s that lions prefer large hooved animals as prey, including antelope, zebra, and buffalo,” said Gnoske. “And our data suggest that by the time the lions are relegated to eating porcupines, there's already a problem with the local food supply. Historic records tell us that when environmental conditions deteriorate, particularly in areas where lions and their preferred prey are already living on the edge, they find themselves in serious trouble with nearby humans or their livestock.”

“One moral of the story is that there is no free lunch,” said Professor Celesia. “Even the king of beasts doesn't eat what he wants without paying a price.”

The study is published in the <a href="https://www.ajol.info/index.php/jeanh">Journal of East African Natural History</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Main Image © Eric Kilby

Even top predators may not survive getting stabbed by a porcupine quill

Lions may be four-hundred-pound top predators, but a new study...

Nature has the power to adapt — it’s what has kept certain species growing and thriving for millennia, while others die out. Now, a new study from the <a href="https://www.southampton.ac.uk/">University of Southampton</a> has found that the threat of range losses for some species due to <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/educating-kids-climate-change/">climate change</a> may be overstated, as certain animals will be able to adapt to rising temperatures and aridity. 

The researchers’ findings are published in the journal <a href="https://www.pnas.org/">PNAS</a> and detail a new approach to more accurately determine species vulnerability. This approach may aid in future conservation efforts by allowing scientists to focus on species that are truly at risk. The current methods for determining vulnerability do not include the potential for some species to adapt genetically to a changing environment. 

Led by Dr. Orly Razgour, a lecturer in ecology at the University of Southampton, the international research team assessed the genomic data of two species of bats native to the Mediterranean, which is an area that will be heavily affected by rising global temperatures.

“The most commonly used approach for forecasting the bats’ future suggests that the range of suitable habitats for them would diminish rapidly due to climate change,” explains Dr. Razgour. “However, this assumes all bats within the same species cope with changing temperatures and drier climates in the same way. We developed a new approach that takes into account the ability of bats within the same species to adapt to different climatic conditions.”

The researchers studied the DNA of over 300 bats, identifying individuals that were adapted to thrive in hot and dry conditions as well as those that were adapted to colder and wetter environments. This information was then used to model changes in climatic suitability and the distribution of each group under future climate change. 

After mapping the areas that were most populated by each group of adapted bats, the research team studied the landscapes in between each area to determine whether they would allow the bats adapted to hot and dry conditions to move into areas already taken up by the cold-wet adapted bats.

Through their analysis, the researchers determined that there was suitable forest cover across most landscapes — an integral part of the landscape in order for bats to thrive. With this landscape connectivity, bats adapted to hot-dry conditions would likely be able to reach cold-wet adapted populations and breed with them. This would increase the ability of the population to survive as conditions become warmer and drier.

“We believe that if this model is used when assessing the vulnerability of any species to climate change we could reduce erroneous predictions and misplaced conservation efforts,” says Razgour. “Any conservation strategy should consider how individual animals can adapt locally and should focus not only on areas with threatened populations but also on making movement between populations easier. This is why it is important to look at the combined effect of climate change and habitat loss.”

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By <a href="mailto:certz@earth.com">Connor Ertz</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Paid for by <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a>

Image Credit: Daniel Fernandez Alonso

Some species are better equipped to adapt to a changing climate

Nature has the power to adapt — it’s what has...

A team of scientists at the <a href="https://ucsd.edu/">University of California San Diego</a> (UCSD) has created a flexible robot to assist in saving the northern white rhino species through artificial reproduction. The snakelike device was designed to navigate the complex reproductive anatomy of a female rhino.

There are only two remaining <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/northern-white-rhino-died/">northern white rhinos</a> in the world. While both are female, neither is capable of carrying a baby to full term. 

The only hope to save the species is to fertilize the egg of a female with the sperm of a deceased male, which experts have stored over the years. The purpose of the new robot is to implant the resulting embryo into the uterus of a surrogate mother from another species, such as a southern white rhino. 

The UCSD researchers teamed up with experts at the San Diego Zoo to design a robotic device that can make this implantation process more feasible. Study co-author Michael Yip is a professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering.

“It's essentially a long, thin catheter that can be steered through a rhino's cervix to deliver a specimen to the uterus,” explained Professor Yip. 

The UCSD team noted that the cervix of a female rhino has a series of steep turns for up to 12 inches, followed by a “fairly long vagina plus the uterine body” and the uterine horn. Overall, the experts must carefully and precisely navigate around 27 inches. 

The new robot, which measures just two to three millimeters in diameter, was built to snake through this complex system during the artificial insemination process.

[caption id="attachment_1872306" align="aligncenter" width="650"]<a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Screen-Shot-2019-05-07-at-8.49.43-AM.png"><img class="wp-image-1872306" src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Screen-Shot-2019-05-07-at-8.49.43-AM.png" alt="Image Credit: David Baillot, UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering" width="650" height="401" /></a> Image Credit: David Baillot, UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering[/caption]

 “You can basically marionette the device to curve into any shape you want,” said Professor Yip. “And you can control it to make very fine, delicate movements so that procedures could be done in the animal safely and non-traumatically.”

Barbara Durrant is the Director of Reproductive Sciences at the San Diego Zoo.

“The ultimate goal is to produce a self-sustaining herd of northern white rhinos, first in captivity and then back into the wild,” said Durrant. “That's still many, many years down the line, but we have excellent collaborators both here and around the world that are working with us and helping us move steadily in that direction.”

“At the end of the day, I hope that technologies like this can be used to both repopulate critically endangered species and counter some of the unfortunate human poaching that has been going on around the world,” said Professor Yip.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Could a flexible robot help save the nearly extinct northern white rhino?

A team of scientists at the University of California San...

The <a href="https://www.un.org/en/">United Nations</a> announced on Monday that one million species are being pushed toward extinction as a direct result of human activities. The shocking report, which is based on the most comprehensive assessment of species <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/amphibians-risk-extinction/">extinction</a> risk to date, was written by 150 scientists with contributions from an additional 310 experts.

According to the <a href="https://www.ipbes.net/">Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services</a> (IPBES) committee, the global rate of species extinction “is already tens to hundreds of times higher than it has been, on average, over the last 10 million years.”

The IPBES Global Assessment was assembled over three years and is based on 15,000 scientific references. The research has revealed that more species are currently threatened with extinction than at any other point in human history. 

Sir Robert Watson is one of the world’s most influential environmental scientists and Chair of the IPBES.

“The overwhelming evidence of the IPBES Global Assessment, from a wide range of different fields of knowledge, presents an ominous picture,” said Sir Watson. “The health of ecosystems on which we and all other species depend is deteriorating more rapidly than ever. We are eroding the very foundations of our economies, livelihoods, food security, health and quality of life worldwide.”

Humans have transformed the Earth's land, ocean, and freshwater habitats, leaving plants and animals homeless. Human activities have also placed enormous pressure on species through pollution, overfishing, climate change, and the introduction of invasive species. 

“This report should help us understand that the signals of natural ecosystem collapse are symptoms of our collective human patterns, including consumption, resource exploitation and inequalities in economic and political power,” said Zak Smith, senior attorney for the Natural Resources Defense Council.

“The only way we’re going to save our planet and ourselves is if we firmly break with the failed systems of the past and embark on a new human journey. It won’t be easy, but we don’t have a choice. It’s time to engage as if our lives depend on it because they do.”

Sir Watson said the loss of species and ecosystems is already a global threat to human well-being, but that the report still gives us some hope. 

“The report also tells us that it is not too late to make a difference, but only if we start now at every level from local to global,” said Sir Watson. “Through ‘transformative change,’ nature can still be conserved, restored and used sustainably - this is also key to meeting most other global goals.” 

“Protecting the invaluable contributions of nature to people will be the defining challenge of decades to come.”

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Paid for by <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a>

UN report: 1 million species are being pushed toward extinction

The United Nations announced on Monday that one million species...

An international team of scientists is describing a previously unknown relative of <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/worlds-largest-t-rex/">Tyrannosaurus rex</a> that was uncovered in New Mexico. The new tyrannosauroid dinosaur, which was much smaller than the ferocious T. rex, has been named Suskityrannus hazelae.

The dinosaur was discovered by paleontologist Sterling Nesbitt, an assistant professor in the Department of Geosciences at <a href="https://vt.edu/">Virginia Tech</a>. Remarkably, Professor Nesbitt had found the fossil at age 16 while he was a high school student participating in a dig expedition in 1998.

According to Professor Nesbitt, the dinosaur stood roughly three feet tall at the hip and was about nine feet in length. The entire animal was only slightly longer than just the skull of a fully grown Tyrannosaurus rex. 

“Suskityrannus has a much more slender skull and foot than its later and larger cousins, the Tyrannosaurus rex,” said Professor Nesbitt. “The find also links the older and smaller tyrannosauroids from North America and China with the much larger tyrannosaurids that lasted until the final extinction of non-avian dinosaurs.”

S. hazelae likely weighed between 45 and 90 pounds, while a full-grown Tyrannosaurus rex weighed roughly nine tons. The smaller relative of T. rex was also a meat eater, although it is not known which animals it hunted. 

Based on an analysis of its bones, the specimen found by Professor Nesbitt was at least three years old at the time of its death, and the fossil dates back 92 million years to the Cretaceous Period.

“Suskityrannus gives us a glimpse into the evolution of tyrannosaurs just before they take over the planet,” said Professor Nesbitt. “It also belongs to a dinosaurian fauna that just proceeds the iconic dinosaurian faunas in the latest Cretaceous that include some of the most famous dinosaurs, such as the Triceratops, predators like Tyrannosaurus rex, and duckbill dinosaurs like Edmotosaurus.”

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/natecolevol/">Nature Ecology &amp; Evolution</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Image Credit: Virginia Tech, Andrey Atuchin

Newly named Tyrannosaurus Rex cousin was only three feet tall

An international team of scientists is describing a previously unknown...

It has been estimated that at least 25 percent of the world's 8,000 known amphibian species are at risk of extinction. However, a lack of data has made it difficult to understand the true extent of the challenges faced by <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/killer-fungus-amphibians/">amphibians</a>. 

Compared to nearly 100 percent of birds and mammals, only about 44 percent of amphibians have up-to-date assessments on their risk of extinction. According to a new study, about 1,000 more species of amphibians are seriously threatened than what was previously realized. 

Pamela González-del-Pliego is an expert in the Department of Animal and Plant Sciences at the <a href="https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/">University of Sheffield</a> and the lead author of the study. 

“We found that more than 1,000 data-deficient amphibians are threatened with extinction, and nearly 500 are Endangered or Critically Endangered, mainly in South America and Southeast Asia,” said González-del-Pliego. “Urgent conservation actions are needed to avert the loss of these species.”

She explained that the lack of information on these species results from high rates of new species description together with a lag in assessment rates in the last 15 years. Overall, about 2,200 amphibian species had not been adequately assessed and their status was unknown.

[caption id="attachment_1872236" align="aligncenter" width="650"]<a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/frog.jpg"><img class="wp-image-1872236" src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/frog.jpg" alt="" width="650" height="327" /></a> Image Credit: Pamela González-del-Pliego[/caption]

The team used what is known about the ecology, geography, and evolutionary attributes to measure the extinction risk of the individual species. Their estimates suggest that at least half of the data-deficient species are threatened with extinction, primarily in the Neotropics and Southeast Asia, and about 500 species are either endangered or critically endangered. 

“In the Neotropics, the species that we know are threatened have very similar geographical distributions compared to the data-deficient species predicted to be threatened,” said González-del-Pliego. “Therefore, if we try and conserve the areas where current threatened species are, we will be protecting the data-deficient species as well.”

However, due to poor overlap in the distribution of data-deficient and known threatened species, amphibians living in Southeast Asia and Central Africa are at a much higher risk. 

González-del-Pliego explained that the new predictive evidence should now be used to make informed decisions about which species and regions to target. “We need to move quickly to consider amphibians as a high conservation priority and integrate data-deficient species into conservation strategies.”

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.cell.com/current-biology/home">Current Biology</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Image Credit: Robert Freckleton

Many more amphibians are at risk of extinction

It has been estimated that at least 25 percent of...

Lions stuffed into tiny cages, awaiting their deaths in a blood-stained slaughterhouse. It’s a scene that only sounds plausible in a horror movie. But this is reality for lions living in a captive breeding facility in South Africa.

This, and other revelations, were recently released in an investigation by Lord Ashcroft, former United Kingdom politician and philanthropist.

As we<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/lion-voluntourism-trips-harm/"> previously reported</a>, up to 12,000 lions live in captive breeding facilities in South Africa, the only country that permits large-scale captive breeding of lions and sets an annual quota for legal exports of lion bones.

Lions are intensively bred in captivity for tourist attractions and subsequently killed for profit. At the facilities, cubs are taken away from their mothers within hours of being born. The cubs are used to draw in unknowing tourists and volunteers who believe they are helping to raise orphaned cubs. When the lions become too large for human interaction, they are often killed for the lion bone trade or sold to canned hunting facilities where they are shot in enclosed spaces.

The investigation, appropriately named Operation Simba, provides new insight into this disturbing industry. Investigators found that over 50 lions were slaughtered for their bones at one facility in a two-day period.

“Lions were kept in tiny cages and suffered appalling conditions in this farm's blood-stained slaughterhouse before their deaths. Horrific pictures showed lion skeletons and innards littering the floor, while discarded internal body parts were piled high in overflowing black plastic bags on a trailer outside,” the <a href="https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/lord-ashcroft-exclusively-reveals-the-horrors-of-lion-farming-in-south-africa-300839459.html">the report reads</a>.

Breeders are also believed to be purposefully cross-breeding lions with tigers to create hybrids that would sell at a higher price. These crossbred animals, called either ligers and tigons depending on the species of the male and female, often suffer from health defects, cancer and cleft palates. Ligers, the offspring of a male lion and female tiger, are at a high risk of gigantism which can cause their internal organs to give out due to their unnatural size.

The investigation also uncovered potential illegal imports of lion parts. 

“The UK representative of a South African safari company advised an undercover investigator posing as a hunter how he could bypass a US ban on importing captive-bred lion trophies. He suggested first importing it to the UK - where such imports are not banned - before hiding the lion's skin inside the skin of a dead red deer and moving it on to America,” the report explains.

The investigation follows the seizure of lion cubs from a captive breeding facility in South Africa. Inspectors with the National Council of the SPCA found two lion cubs who were unable to walk, believed to be suffering from a neurological condition. In addition, inspectors note that big cats were subjected to overcrowding, mange, lack of water and parasitic conditions,<a href="https://www.timeslive.co.za/news/south-africa/2019-04-12-nspca-removes-ailing-lions-from-north-west-breeding-facility/"> Times Live</a> reports.

Animal advocates and wildlife conservationists have long decried the captive lion breeding industry in South Africa. In November 2018, a committee of South African lawmakers<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/captive-lion-trophy-hunting/"> called on the Department of Environmental Affairs</a> to “initiate a policy…with a view of putting an end to this practice.”

The Department of Environmental Affairs has since<a href="https://www.environment.gov.za/mediarelease/mokonyane_captivelion_nspca"> announced</a> that “the Minister intends to appoint High-Level Panel to Review Policies, Legislation, and Practices relating to matters of elephant, lion, leopard and rhinoceros handling, management, breeding, hunting, and trade.” 

But there have been no moves to end the industry altogether. According to the department’s own numbers, nearly 40% of facilities were non-compliant with regulations. Many facilities were also operating with expired permits yet the vast majority of permits were reissued without penalties or justifications, The South African <a href="https://www.thesouthafrican.com/shock-reversal-by-dea-of-parliamentary-resolution-on-captive-lion-breeding/">reports</a>.

Lord Ashcroft is now calling on the South African government to prohibit captive breeding facilities and the UK government to ban the importation of captive lion trophies.

Captive lion breeding facilities have existed in the shadows for years, but as the cruelties of this industry come to light the industry might finally meet its fate.

--

By <a href="mailto:brianna.grant134@gmail.com">Brianna Lynne</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Contributing Writer

New investigation reveals brutality of lion captive breeding industry

Lions stuffed into tiny cages, awaiting their deaths in a...

Crane species across the globe are in a state of decline due to ongoing threats such as habitat loss and sea-level rise. Many crane populations are also threatened by collisions with power lines, and efforts to mark the lines and make them more visible have not been very effective. 

A team led by James Dwyer of <a href="https://edmlink.com/">EDM International</a> has now created the Avian Collision Avoidance System (ACAS) by mounting UV lights that shine on the power lines at night. After testing the illumination system, the experts found that it cut crane collisions with power lines by 98 percent.

The researchers tested the effectiveness of the ACAS at Nebraska's Iain Nicolson Audubon Center, where a power line crosses a key river habitat for migrating <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/birds-springtime-watch/">Sandhill Cranes</a>. Each night, the system was randomly assigned to be turned on or off. The team observed the behavior of cranes flying along the river at dusk and during the night. 

The study revealed that there were 98 percent fewer collisions and 82 percent fewer dangerous flights when the ACAS was on. The cranes were found to react sooner and had more control to avoid hitting the power lines.

“This project came about as a result of years of studying avian collisions with power lines throughout North America. My studies included collisions involving numerous species and families of birds, even on lines modified to industry standards to mitigate avian collisions, and I thought perhaps there could be a more effective approach,” said Dwyer. 

“Even so, I did not imagine that the ACAS would have the effect that it did - a 98% reduction in collisions! I thought it would have some effect, but I didn't dare think the ACAS would pretty much solve the Sandhill Crane collision problem at our study site on our first try.”

[caption id="attachment_1872216" align="aligncenter" width="650"]<a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/uv-lights.jpg"><img class="wp-image-1872216" src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/uv-lights.jpg" alt="" width="650" height="433" /></a> The Avian Collision Avoidance System, Image Credit: James Dwyer, EDM International[/caption]

Conventional line markers were already in place on the power lines crossing the river, and the researchers believe that their system illuminated the markers and made them easier for cranes to see. 

“We don't know how effective the ACAS will be on wires without line markers, so we're testing that now,” said Dwyer. “I hope to see the ACAS applied to and studied on other power lines and on communication towers to identify whether it is as effective with other species, habitats, and wire configurations.” 

“From there, if the ACAS proves broadly effective, I hope to see it made easily available to the global electric industry. I also very much hope to see collision studies expanded. Because large carcasses like those of cranes and waterbirds are more easily noticed than smaller species like sparrows and warblers, collision studies have mostly focused on those larger species, and I fear that we may not understand the true distribution of species and habitats involved in the global avian collision problem.”

The study was published in the journal <a href="https://academic.oup.com/condor">The Condor: Ornithological Applications</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Main Image Credit: James Dwyer, EDM International

UV lights help save birds from deadly collisions with power lines

Crane species across the globe are in a state of...

Good news for bees as disease continues to <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/honeybees-threatened-by-disease/">threaten hive health</a>: older bees can pass on resistance to certain illnesses, creating a sort of hive-wide collective immunity. 

Bees that have built up resistance to some diseases can share that immune system boost through the jelly that the hive feeds on. 

A team of researchers based in the United Kingdom and Israel found that adult bees secreted double-stranded RNA into the jelly eaten by young worker bees and the royal jelly fed to the queen larva. When studying the jellies, they found RNA that corresponded to 10 different threats.

“Jelly RNAs corresponded to honey bee protein-coding genes, transposable elements, and non-coding RNA, as well as bacteria, fungi, and viruses,” the team wrote in their study, published in the journal <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.celrep.2019.04.073">Cell Reports</a>.

The discovery suggests that adult bees can create a collective immunity to some diseases, fungi and other threats for the whole hive.

The team made their discovery while testing a new technique for treating illness among bees. They created their own dsRNA solution to protect against certain illnesses and fed it to adult bees, to see whether this would be an effective way of medicating a hive. 

They found that it worked – too well. The hives seemed resistant to the diseases in question for months after the treated bees died. Somehow, the older bees were passing down the dsRNA to younger bees.

They soon found that the jellies fed to larva were the keys to the hives’ collective immunity. 

“Consumed but pre-digested dsRNA may thus be distributed directly among adult bees. However, nurse honey bees nourish the young larvae with a processed diet secreted from the mandibular and hypopharyngeal food glands, the worker and royal jellies,” the researchers wrote.

The study adds to the possibilities for apiaries battling colony collapse disorder. It could also mean that potential solutions – such as a <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/first-vaccine-bee-colonies/">vaccine against bacterial infection</a> developed by Finnish scientists – could be even more effective that predicted.

—

By Kyla Cathey, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> staff writer

Hives have collective immunity thanks to older bees

Good news for bees as disease continues to threaten hive...

She’s an unlikely lab assistant, but a southern elephant seal has helped to make some major discoveries in the seas near Antarctica.

Lia Siegelman, a student at the <a href="https://www.univ-brest.fr/">University of Western Brittany</a> who is visiting <a href="https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/">NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory</a>, recruited the pinniped to study some features of the ocean of the Antarctic coast.

The average southern elephant seal spends 9 to 10 months out at sea, diving up to 80 times a day. They can dive to depths of 3,300 feet, often in the same small area, and stay underwater for two hours at a time. 

"Even when they sleep, they dive - they float down like a leaf," Siegelman said in a press release.

Siegelman worked with colleagues from the <a href="http://www.cnrs.fr/en/cnrs">French National Center for Scientific Research</a>, who have been tagging elephant seals on the French-controlled Kerguelen Islands for decades. Since 2014, researchers have been using a new type of sensor that records every dive.

The sensors are glued to the seals’ heads, and are either retrieved by the scientists, or come off during the molting season.

Siegelman and her colleagues retrieved a sensor that recorded three months in the life of a female southern elephant seal. Instead of heading east of the islands like most of the seals, she had gone foraging to the west, where there’s a permanent bend in the Antarctic Circumpolar Current known as a meander. There, she dove 6,942 times.

Her sensor recorded data that scientists haven’t been able to log yet. Siegelman and her co-authors were able to pinpoint the locations where ocean water density changes suddenly – like warm and cold fronts in the atmosphere – as well as how these “fronts” pull nutrients up from the depths and nourish phytoplankton.

The plankton form the base of the food chain, with elephant seals eventually benefitting in the form of well-fed prey.

"I hope this [result] will encourage physicists and biologists to use those very rich data from seals," Siegelman said. 

The study was published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-019-42117-w">Scientific Reports</a>.

—

By Kyla Cathey, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> staff writer

Southern elephant seal offers new ocean perspective

She’s an unlikely lab assistant, but a southern elephant seal...

<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/young-emperor-penguins-survive/">Emperor penguin</a> colonies across the Antarctic are collapsing due to climate change, and yet the regal and beloved birds are still not protected under the U.S. Endangered Species Act. 

Without protections, the emperor penguin will continue it’s a steady slide toward potential extinction as climate change is breaking up Antarctic sea ice and making the penguin’s coastal breeding grounds uninhabitable. 

One recent study found that the world’s second-largest emperor penguin colony at Halle Bay in the Weddell Sea has experienced catastrophic breeding failure. Over the past three years, penguin parents have lost their chicks due to early breakups of sea ice. 

The study was conducted by researchers from the <a href="https://www.bas.ac.uk/">British Antarctic Survey</a> and published in the journal<a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/4CA1A77971A4CD5D5CB823EBF338FAA9/S0954102019000099a.pdf/emperors_on_thin_ice_three_years_of_breeding_failure_at_halley_bay.pdf"> Antarctic Science.</a>

The researchers analyzed high-resolution satellite imagery and found that in the past three years, the colony’s once stable breeding grounds broke up before any chicks had fledged. 

In 2016, more than 10,000 chicks drowned due to the sea ice breaking up before the birds were able to swim.

The rate of breeding failure is unprecedented for the Halley Bay colony, but other emperor penguin populations are suffering similar declines. 

The penguin colony featured in the hit film March of the Penguins has declined more than 50 percent, and the colony on Dion Island has completely disappeared. 

Climate change, overfishing, decreases in krill populations, and ocean acidification are all threatening emperor penguin colonies. 

In response to these catastrophic declines, the <a href="https://www.biologicaldiversity.org/">Center for Biological Diversity</a> has filed a notice of intent to sue the Trump administration for failing to grant the emperor penguin Endangered Species Act protection. 

In 2006, a petition filed by the Center for Biological Diversity resulted in the protection of seven penguin species, but the emperor penguin has yet to be listed. 

“Emperor penguins have needed protection for a long time, but Trump’s fossil-fuel-first agenda has dialed up the urgency,” said Shaye Wolf, climate science director of the Center. “Chicks are drowning as climate change melts their habitat. Further delay in slashing carbon pollution could wipe out one of our planet’s most amazing birds.”

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>,<a href="https://www.earth.com/"> Earth.com</a> Staff Writer 
Paid for by <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a>

Emperor penguin colonies are collapsing due to climate change

Emperor penguin colonies across the Antarctic are collapsing due to...

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Today’s Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.esa.int/">European Space Agency</a> features Nushagak Bay, a large estuary in southwest Alaska. Nushagak runs mainly north to south and exits in Bristol Bay, a large body of water in the Bering Sea.



"The bay is primarily fed by the Nushagak River, which begins in the Alaska Range and flows southwest approximately 450 km. The bay is also fed by several additional rivers including the Wood, Igushik, Snake and Weary rivers," says ESA.



"The dark colors of the Nushagak River are most likely due to tannins or lignins (chemical substances found in plants). Tannins and lignins from roots, leaves, seeds, bark and soil can leach into the water and give it a brown or even black colour. The sediments then flow southwards where it is mixed with the bluer waters of the bay."



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Nushagak Bay in southwest Alaska

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Today's Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.acs.org/">American Chemical Society</a> (ACS) reveals that proteins on flu viruses are actually flexible, tilting and waving in a “breath-like” motion. According to the experts, these proteins could be used to better defend against the flu.



"The main antigenic targets of influenza virus are two surface glycoproteins, hemagglutinin (HA) and neuraminidase (NA). Whereas the structural and dynamical properties of both glycoproteins have been studied previously, the understanding of their plasticity in the whole-virion context is fragmented," wrote the researchers.



To investigate, the team conducted detailed simulations of the influenza A H1N1 virion, or the swine flu. The experts concluded that the visualizations show many new vulnerable states of flu viruses, which could improve future vaccines and antiviral drugs.



Video/ Image Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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By <a href="mailto:csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Editor



Check us out on <a href="https://www.earth.com/earthsnap/">EarthSnap</a>, a free app brought to you by Eric Ralls and Earth.com.

Flu viruses are more flexible than expected

[sendtonews key="G9bUoxcjr4-2511624-12187" type="single"] Today's Video of the Day from the...

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Today’s Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.esa.int/">European Space Agency</a> features Lake Trasimeno, which is located west of Perugia in central Italy. It is the fourth largest lake in the country. While Trasimeno’s water level varies, it has a maximum depth of approximately six meters.&nbsp;



"In this Copernicus Sentinel-2 image, captured on 6 August 2022, the lake’s emerald green colour is likely due to the presence of phytoplankton. Streaks in the water, particularly visible in the west, indicate the presence of soil and sediments which have been stirred up by winds. Dark colored waters in the southern part of the lake indicate a presence of submerged and floating macrophytes (aquatic plants) as well as algae," says ESA.



"Surrounded by hills on three sides, Trasimeno is subject to heavy storms created by winds, especially from the north and west. There are three islets in the lake: Maggiore, Minore and Polvese (the largest). The lake’s shores are sparsely inhabited with only two popular villages: Castiglione del Lago and Passignano sul Trasimeno."



"Italy is experiencing its worst drought in 70 years which has affected drinking water supplies, hydroelectric power and agricultural production. High temperatures, hot winds and lack of rainfall are the main causes of drought in the Umbrian region which saw Lake Trasimeno’s drop 1.3 m, reaching the limit of the hydrometric zero in July 2022."



Video/Image Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Lake Trasimeno in Central Italy

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Today's Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.acs.org/">American Chemical Society</a> describes a new self-powered nanosensor that can instantly detect mercury contamination with the tap of a finger.&nbsp;



The oxidized form of mercury can be harmful when it is ingested through contaminated water or food. This makes it necessary for experts to develop sensors that can quickly and accurately detect the presence of mercury.&nbsp;



Zong-Hong Lin and colleagues have now created a triboelectric nanosensor (TENS) that can detect mercury by simply by touching a sample. According to the researchers, their TENS could serve as the basis for similar devices to safely and remotely monitor other pollutants.



Video Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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By <a href="mailto:csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Editor



Check us out on <a href="https://www.earth.com/earthsnap/">EarthSnap</a>, a free app brought to you by Eric Ralls and Earth.com.

Detecting mercury contamination with the tap of a finger

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Today’s Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.acs.org/">American Chemical Society</a> explores the ability of salt to transform the way that foods and beverages taste. Salt is known to cover up undesirable flavors, such as bitterness in coffee or beer, but how exactly does sodium chloride change the taste of other compounds?



One previous study showed that, not only does salt suppress bitterness, but also enhances sweetness and sourness. Another study revealed that bitterness reduction by salt seems to be happening at the tongue receptor level as well as in the brain.&nbsp;



While it is known that salt taste is mediated by the presence of sodium channels in the form of taste buds, experts believe that there is also an unknown receptor responsible for how we taste salt that has not yet been identified.&nbsp;



Video Credit: ACS Reactions



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By <a href="mailto:csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Editor



Check us out on <a href="https://www.earth.com/earthsnap/">EarthSnap</a>, a free app brought to you by Eric Ralls and Earth.com.

How does salt makes things taste better?

[sendtonews key="X0f6OHYoI4-2310561-12187" type="single"] Today’s Video of the Day from the...

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Today’s Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.esa.int/">European Space Agency</a> features Santiago, the capital city of Chile. The city is located in the center of the Santiago Metropolitan Region, which has a population of about eight million people.&nbsp;



'The weather of Santiago resembles the Mediterranean climate with dry and warm summers with temperatures reaching up to 35°C (from October to March) and cool and humid winters that can drop to 0°C (from April to September)."



"The city lies in the centre of the country’s central valley around 80 km from the Pacific Ocean to the west and borders Argentina to the east. A tiny part of Argentina is visible in the top-right corner of the image where the mountain crest of the Andes Mountains acts as a divider between the two countries," says ESA.



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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By <a href="mailto:csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Editor



Check us out on <a href="https://www.earth.com/earthsnap/">EarthSnap</a>, a free app brought to you by Eric Ralls and Earth.com.

Santiago, Chile in South America

[sendtonews key="JRaP49ISmm-2357509-12187" type="single"] Today’s Video of the Day from the...

Spiral,Galaxy,,Illustration,Of,Milky,Way

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Astronomers at <a href="https://www.jhu.edu/">Johns Hopkins University</a> have created an interactive map of the universe, including the actual position and real colors of 200,000 galaxies. The map allows the public to access data that was previously only available to scientists.



The map was developed using data collected by the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. For over two decades, a telescope in New Mexico was aimed at slightly different locations to capture the night sky.&nbsp;



"Growing up I was very inspired by astronomy pictures, stars, nebulae and galaxies, and now it's our time to create a new type of picture to inspire people," said map creator Brice Ménard, a professor at Johns Hopkins. "Astrophysicists around the world have been analyzing this data for years, leading to thousands of scientific papers and discoveries. But nobody took the time to create a map that is beautiful, scientifically accurate, and accessible to people who are not scientists. Our goal here is to show everybody what the universe really looks like."



"In this map, we are just a speck at the very bottom, just one pixel. And when I say we, I mean our galaxy, the Milky Way which has billions of stars and planets. We are used to seeing astronomical pictures showing one galaxy here, one galaxy there or perhaps a group of galaxies. But what this map shows is a very, very different scale."



"From this speck at the bottom, we are able to map out galaxies across the entire universe, and that says something about the power of science."



The <a href="https://mapoftheuniverse.net/">interactive map</a> is available online, where it can be downloaded for free.



Video Credit: Johns Hopkins&nbsp;



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By <a href="mailto:csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Editor



Check us out on <a href="https://www.earth.com/earthsnap/">EarthSnap</a>, a free app brought to you by Eric Ralls and Earth.com.

Interactive map of the universe includes 200,000 galaxies

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Lesotho: Africa's "Kingdom in the Sky" Today’s Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.esa.int/">European Space Agency</a> features northwest Lesotho in South Africa.



According to ESA, Lesotho is the only nation in the world that lies completely above 1,000 m in elevation. The country is famous for its tall mountains and narrow valleys, and is known as Africa's "Kingdom in the Sky."



Out of a population of around two million people, about 80 percent live in rural areas. More than 75 percent of these people are engaged in <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/climate-change-will-have-a-global-impact-on-agriculture/">agriculture</a>, including rainfed cereal production and animal grazing.&nbsp;



ESA reports that the country’s agricultural system faces a growing number of issues, with climate-related vulnerabilities such as drought, floods and extreme temperatures occurring more frequently. 



Diamonds are amongst the minerals found in the mountains. Indeed, Lesotho can truly be called the Kingdom in the Sky. Beautiful, culturally rich, safe, affordable, and easily accessible from Durban and Johannesburg, mountainous Lesotho is a vastly underrated travel destination. the Kingdom of Lesotho (Sotho: 'Muso oa Lesotho) is an enclaved country in southern Africa. It is just over 30,000 km2 (11,583 sq mi) in size and has a population of around 2 million.



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;&nbsp;



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By <a href="mailto:csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer 



Check us out on <a href="https://www.earth.com/earthsnap/">EarthSnap</a>, a free app brought to you by Eric Ralls and Earth.com.

Lesotho: Africa's "Kingdom in the Sky"

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Today's Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.esa.int/">European Space Agency</a> features Dublin, the capital and largest city of Ireland. Beyond its pub culture, Dublin is known as a modern culinary destination and a UNESCO City of Literature.



"Dublin is located near the midpoint of Ireland’s east coast in the province of Leinster. The city, which covers an area of around 115 square kilometers, is bordered by the Dublin Mountains, a low mountain range to the south, and is surrounded by flat farmland to the north and west," says ESA.



"The city straddles the River Liffey, which rises in the Wicklow Mountains and flows around 80 kilometers eastwards through the city of Dublin, in which it is canalised and bordered with quays. It then empties into Dublin Bay, an arm of the Irish Sea."



Dublin has an abundance of green spaces, including one of the largest enclosed public parks in any European capital city. Phoenix Park, which was originally formed as a royal hunting park in the 1660s, includes 707 hectares of green space.



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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By <a href="mailto:csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Editor



Check us out on <a href="https://www.earth.com/earthsnap/">EarthSnap</a>, a free app brought to you by Eric Ralls and Earth.com.

The city of Dublin on Ireland's east coast

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Today's Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.esa.int/">European Space Agency</a> features the province of Zaragoza in northeast Spain. The image was captured by the Copernicus Sentinel-2 mission.



"Together with the provinces of Huesca and Teruel, Zaragoza formed the old kingdom of Aragon. Its capital, also called Zaragoza (not visible in this image) is home to around half of Aragon’s population," says ESA.



"The Ebro River can be seen winding its way through the province from west to east in this image. Between its source in the Cantabrian Mountains in the northwest and its delta on the Mediterranean coast, the Ebro River is fed by more than 200 tributaries as it flows 910 km across much of northern Spain."



Since rainfall is very scarce in this region, irrigation in the Ebro basin is critically important. In the valleys surrounding the Ebro River, many fields are used for growing crops such as corn, wheat, and barley.



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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By <a href="mailto:csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Editor



Check us out on <a href="https://www.earth.com/earthsnap/">EarthSnap</a>, a free app brought to you by Eric Ralls and Earth.com.

The province of Zaragoza in northeast Spain

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Today’s Video of the Day from <a href="https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/">NASA Earth Observatory</a> reveals the evolution of the Columbia Glacier in southeastern Alaska. Columbia is among the fastest shrinking glaciers in the world, and the video documents its rapid retreat over the years.&nbsp;



Columbia Glacier is a large, multi-branched calving glacier that flows out of the Chugach Mountains to the Prince William Sound.&nbsp;



According to USGS, Columbia had a long history of stability prior to 1980, with a length 41 miles, and small, short-lived advances or retreats.



In the years since 1980, however, satellite images have captured Columbia’s alarming retreat. By using false-color images, scientists can distinguish between snow and ice, open water, vegetation, and rocky debris on the glacier’s surface.



The series of false-color images featured in today's video were acquired over the span of 35 years. You can see that by 2021, the glacier’s main branch had retreated about 15 miles from its initial position.



The Columbia Glacier has also lost more than 50 percent of its volume, mostly due to calving. <a href="https://www.earth.com/video/nasa-reveals-3d-visual-of-an-atmospheric-river/">NASA</a> reports that while climate change likely started the retreat, mechanical processes kept the disintegration going.



The NASA images are provided by Jesse Allen, Robert Simmon, Joshua Stevens, and Lauren Dauphin using data from Landsat satellites, from the U.S. Geological Survey, and data from MODIS on NASA’s Terra satellite. The structure of Columbia’s moraine played a large role in the stability of the glacier before 1980. 



Like other tidewater glaciers, the Columbia built up a moraine over time, and the mixture of ice and rock functioned like a dam keeping out the sea. It was supported on one end by the shoreline and by the underwater terminal moraine at the other.



Video Credit: NASA Earth Observatory/&nbsp; NASA’s Scientific Visualization Studio



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By <a href="mailto:csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Editor



Check us out on <a href="https://www.earth.com/earthsnap/">EarthSnap</a>, a free app brought to you by Eric Ralls and Earth.com.

The rapid retreat of the Columbia Glacier

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Today’s Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.esa.int/">European Space Agency</a> features the Pyrenees Mountains, which form a natural boundary between France and Spain in southwest Europe.



The mountain range is 430 kilometers in length. It stretches from the Mediterranean Sea on the east to the Atlantic Ocean on the west.



At an elevation of 3404 meters, Pico de Aneto is the highest mountain peak in the Pyrenees, and the third-highest peak in Spain. Pico de Aneto is located in the Posets-Maladeta Natural Park, which spans more than 82,000 acres.&nbsp;



"Geological studies have revealed that the Pyrenees Mountains have been around for longer than the Alps, with their sediments first deposited in coastal basins during the Paleozoic and Mesozoic eras," reports ESA.



"The entire mountain range formed due to the upwelling of large sedimentary rocks by the collision of the Iberian and the Eurasian plate around 100 to 150 million years ago, followed by intense erosion from ice and water."



The western Pyrenees receive more precipitation due to moisture blowing in from the Atlantic Ocean. The mountain range contains many lakes, several small glaciers, and some of the highest waterfalls in Europe.



Video &amp; Image Credit: ESA



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By <a href="mailto:csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Editor



Check us out on <a href="https://www.earth.com/earthsnap/">EarthSnap</a>, a free app brought to you by Eric Ralls and Earth.com.

The Pyrenees Mountains in southwest Europe

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Earth,Like,Exoplanet,3d,Render

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Today's Video of the Day from <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/goddard">NASA Goddard</a> describes two exoplanets that are orbiting a star 218 light-years away. A team of researchers led by the University of Montreal has found evidence that these planets are "water worlds."



The experts used data from NASA’s Hubble and Spitzer Space Telescopes. They discovered that exoplanets Kepler-138 c and Kepler-138 could be composed largely of water.



"We previously thought that planets that were a bit larger than Earth were big balls of metal and rock, like scaled-up versions of Earth, and that's why we called them super-Earths," explained study co-author Björn Benneke.&nbsp;



"However, we have now shown that these two planets, Kepler-138 c and d, are quite different in nature and that a big fraction of their entire volume is likely composed of water. It is the best evidence yet for water worlds, a type of planet that was theorized by astronomers to exist for a long time."



Video Credit: NASA Goddard



Image Credit: NASA, ESA, and Leah Hustak (STScI)



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By <a href="mailto:csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Editor



Check us out on <a href="https://www.earth.com/earthsnap/">EarthSnap</a>, a free app brought to you by Eric Ralls and Earth.com.

Two distant planets may be "water worlds"

[sendtonews key="QIoVYJqRBi-2434608-12187" type="single"] Today's Video of the Day from NASA...

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Satellites reveal how Earth's systems are interconnected Today’s Video of the Day from <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/goddard">NASA Goddard</a> describes Earth’s interconnected systems, and how this network is affected by rising temperatures.&nbsp;



During 2020, average global temperatures matched the hottest year on record. The hurricane season was also record-breaking, with many of the storms intensifying at extraordinary speeds. Hot water in the ocean is fuel for hurricanes. The satellite data shows that it's all one interconnected system showing how Satellites reveal how Earth's systems are interconnected.



According to NASA, dust swept up from Northern Africa plays a major role in the formation of hurricanes, and is also a key source of fertilization in the Amazon rainforest. As a result of<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/seagrass-wasting-disease-is-fueled-by-climate-change/"> climate</a> change, dust plumes are expected to decline, which will have an effect on vegetation far away.&nbsp;



Images from Earth-observing satellites show how the world’s plant life is affected by natural disasters, fires, and deforestation. Satellites also reveal how widespread changes in vegetation impact waterways,&nbsp; the climate, air quality. Satellites communicate by using radio waves to send signals to the antennas on the Earth. "Earth From Space" is a groundbreaking two-hour special that reveals a spectacular new space-based vision of our planet. 



Video Credit: NASA Goddard&nbsp;



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By <a href="mailto:csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Editor



Check us out on <a href="https://www.earth.com/earthsnap/">EarthSnap</a>, a free app brought to you by Eric Ralls and Earth.com.

Satellites reveal how Earth's systems are interconnected

[sendtonews key="JbW4VsY53O-1632195-12187" type="single"] Satellites reveal how Earth's systems are interconnected...

Today’s Video of the Day from the <a href="https://welcome.miami.edu/">University of Miami</a> Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science explores how changes in water temperatures have affected tiger shark habitats and movements in the North Atlantic Ocean. The study reveals that rising temperatures have caused the sharks to shift toward the poles over the past 40 years.



“Tiger shark annual migrations have expanded poleward, paralleling rising water temperatures,” explained study lead author Neil Hammerschlag. “These results have consequences for tiger shark conservation, since shifts in their movements outside of marine protected areas may leave them more vulnerable to commercial fishing.”



The researchers analyzed nine years of tracking data from satellite-tagged tiger sharks, combined with four decades of conventional tag and recapture data provided by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Cooperative Shark Tagging Program.



The experts found that during the last decade of record heat, for every one-degree Celsius increase in water temperatures, tiger sharks migrated further poleward by over 400 kilometers. They also migrated two weeks earlier than usual to waters off the northeastern coast of the United States.



“Given their role as apex predators, these changes to tiger shark movements may alter predator-prey interactions, leading to ecological imbalances, and more frequent encounters with humans,” concluded Professor Hammerschlag.



Video Credit: University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science



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By <a href="mailto:csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Editor



Check us out on <a href="https://www.earth.com/earthsnap/">EarthSnap</a>, a free app brought to you by Eric Ralls and Earth.com.

Tiger sharks are shifting poleward as temperatures rise

Today’s Video of the Day from the University of Miami...

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Today’s Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.esa.int/">European Space Agency</a> is focused on the melt ponds that emerge during the spring and summer on the Greenland Ice Sheet, which is the largest ice mass in the northern hemisphere.



"Melt ponds are vast pools of open water that form on both sea ice and ice sheets and are visible as turquoise-blue pools of water in this Copernicus Sentinel-2 image," says ESA.



"When snow and ice melts atop glaciers, water flows in channels and streams and collects in depressions on the surface. These melt ponds can speed up the melting of the surrounding ice since they greatly reduce the ice’s ability to reflect sunlight."



"This can create a positive feedback where an increasing number of melt ponds absorb more heat which causes ice cover to melt even faster."



According to ESA, Greenland has been hit with a late-season heatwave that began in early September. This caused the type of melt event that usually occurs in the middle of summer.



"In a recent paper published in Nature Climate Change, scientists found that major sea-level rise from the melting of the Greenland ice cap is now ‘inevitable’ even if the burning of fossil fuels were to halt overnight," says ESA. "Using satellite observations of Greenland ice loss and ice cap from 2000 to 2019, the team found the losses will lead to a minimum rise of 27 cm regardless of climate change."



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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By <a href="mailto:csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Editor



Check us out on <a href="https://www.earth.com/earthsnap/">EarthSnap</a>, a free app brought to you by Eric Ralls and Earth.com.

Melt ponds on the Greenland Ice Sheet

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Today’s Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.esa.int/">European Space Agency</a> describes a new map of Mars that is providing insight into the planet’s watery past. The map also reveals where future missions could safely land on Mars.&nbsp;



The map has been created over the last decade using observations of water-rich rocks and mineral deposits. The images were captured by ESA’s Mars Express and NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.



"A big surprise is the prevalence of these minerals, with the map revealing hundreds of thousands of water-affected locations in the oldest parts of the planet," says ESA. "The new data will help answer exciting questions about Mars’ climate history, whether water was globally persistent or confined to short, intense episodes, and whether the conditions were ever suitable for life."



"Specifically, the map shows the locations and abundances of aqueous minerals. These are from rocks that have been chemically altered by the action of water in the past, and have typically been transformed into clays and salts."



According to John Carter of the Institut d’Astrophysique Spatiale (IAS), our collective understanding of Mars has been oversimplified. He explained that planetary scientists have tended to think that only a few types of clay minerals on Mars were created during its wet period, then as the water gradually dried up, salts were produced across the planet.



The new map shows that the composition of Mars is much more complicated than what we thought. For example, while many salts formed after Martian clays, there are some salts that are presumed to be older than some of the clays.&nbsp;



“The evolution from lots of water to no water is not as clear cut as we thought, the water didn’t just stop overnight. We see a huge diversity of geological contexts, so that no one process or simple timeline can explain the evolution of the mineralogy of Mars. That’s the first result of our study. The second is that if you exclude life processes on Earth, Mars exhibits a diversity of mineralogy in geological settings just as Earth does,” said Carter.



Video Credit: ESA



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By <a href="mailto:csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Editor



Check us out on <a href="https://www.earth.com/earthsnap/">EarthSnap</a>, a free app brought to you by Eric Ralls and Earth.com.

The history of Mars is much more complex than we thought

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Today's Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.stowers.org/">Stowers Institute for Medical Research</a> describes how cavefish adapted to a sedentary lifestyle over tens of thousands of years. 



The experts found that the muscle metabolism of cavefish has been genetically reprogrammed over time. As a result, the animals have experienced major changes in their morphology and behavior. Despite these changes, however, the cavefish remain healthy and fit.



The research may provide new clues about the evolutionary consequences of prolonged physical inactivity in humans.&nbsp;



“It’s no surprise that people are moving less and less as technology has advanced,” said Rohner. “With cavefish, we have a unique system where we can study what might happen if people remained couch potatoes over very, very long periods of time.”



Video Credit: Stowers Institute for Medical Research



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By <a href="mailto:csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Editor



Check us out on <a href="https://www.earth.com/earthsnap/">EarthSnap</a>, a free app brought to you by Eric Ralls and Earth.com.

Cavefish are healthy despite their sedentary lifestyle

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Today’s Video of the Day from <a href="https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/">NASA Earth Observatory</a> some of the most incredible waves in the world, as seen by Landsat satellites.



"With more than 370,000 miles of coastline on Earth, there are plenty of places where epic waves build up, curl over, and hurtle toward the shore.- much to the thrill of surfers," says NASA. "There are some places where these waves are so magnificent that they can be seen from space."



"With the broad perspective of satellites, we can see how these iconic waves develop into the world’s tallest, longest, fastest, and heaviest."



Video Credit: NASA Earth Observatory&nbsp;



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By <a href="mailto:csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Editor



Check us out on <a href="https://www.earth.com/earthsnap/">EarthSnap</a>, a free app brought to you by Eric Ralls and Earth.com.

Satellites capture the world's biggest and fastest waves

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Today’s Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.esa.int/">European Space Agency</a> describes why satellite images and measurements of our planet have become "essential to our survival, offering a new outlook of our world."&nbsp;



Rising sea levels pose one of the biggest societal threats associated with climate change. According to ESA, satellite altimeter missions such as Copernicus Sentinel-6 are essential in monitoring global and regional changes in sea level.



"Unbeknown to many, the island of Crete, Greece, plays an important role in the Copernicus satellite altimetry constellation and on an international stage," reports ESA.



"Satellite altimetry data have to be continuously monitored at the ESA’s Permanent Facility for Altimetry Calibration where different techniques have pioneered the use of transponders to provide the best measurements to validate satellite altimeters in space soon after launch."



Dr. Craig Donlon explains that, by understanding planet Earth through satellite measurements, we are able to find evidence of change.&nbsp;



Video Credit: European Space Agency&nbsp;



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By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Satellites have become essential to our survival

[sendtonews key="761m2QQvR1-2035772-12187" type="single"] Today’s Video of the Day from the...